“I think I missed Friday’s practice. I was ill to the point that getting on the plane Saturday was a chore,” Esiason said. “I do remember eight or nine guys all suffering from the flu that day and I remember getting our [behinds] royally kicked.”

That was the day Oilers defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, Rex Ryan’s father, took a swing at offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride at the end of the first half for not running out the clock.

“It was not a pretty sight,” Esiason said.

The Jets had been 8-5, then 8-6 when they traveled to arctic Buffalo and lost when Cary Blanchard missed three field goals.

“If he makes one of them, we go to the playoffs,” Esiason said.

Blanchard missed a 42-yarder with 53 seconds left in a 16-14 loss.

So they were 8-7 when they hit the road again for Houston, and this is what Esiason recalls before the game: “How the team basically had no energy — no physical energy, no mental energy. We lost the playoffs the week before in Buffalo.”

The Oilers, who already had clinched a playoff spot, dismantled the Jets with Cody Carlson, Warren Moon’s backup, at quarterback. The Jets were 8-8 and going home.

“It was one of the worst flights of my career,” Esiason said. “I was traded here [to the Jets] because Bruce [Coslet] really wanted me to run his offense. I was traded here to get the team to the playoffs, which we failed to do. I really felt bad for Bruce. He and I were really close.”

Coslet wouldn’t get a chance to coach his fifth season with the Jets. He was soon fired, and replaced by defensive coordinator Pete Carroll.

These current Jets are more fortunate. Jim Caldwell gave them that Christmas gift when he pulled Peyton Manning for Curtis Painter in the third quarter.

These Jets also get Esiason’s old Bengals in their house.

“It’s gonna be a raucous crowd, it’s gonna be Sunday night . . . different circumstances for them than it was for us,” he said. And hopefully, for long-suffering Jets fans, a different outcome.